. prevention/reduction of teenage pregnancies

What types of research studies have been done on prevention/reduction of teenage pregnancies in rural communities? One study I found analyzed “essays written by high school students to gain insight about the high teen-pregnancy rate in their rural community.” (Weiss, 2012). The study looked at the nurse practitioners that provide care to these teenagers and the resistance from the teen’s parents to promote discussion of discouraging early pregnancy due to the perception that the conversation may break down barriers that inhibit prevention strategies. What are the research findings? The findings in one study concluded that “contributory factors that play a role in the heightened number of teenage pregnancies included poor sex and contraceptive education, especially to girls in the rural areas.” (Teen Pregnancy, 2016). One study stated lack of activities in the community leads to the teens being bored and having sex. (Weiss, 2012). If the parents were to create after school activities or allow their kids to be a part of extra activities that already exist, it may assist with decreasing the pregnancy rate. How should sex education be addressed in the schools? Sex education should be addressed in the schools with the most up to date and direct information possible. There are a number of parents that think ignorance is bliss and the less their child is exposed to, the less their child will do. Unfortunately, the less the child is exposed to, the more ignorant they will be in a situation with a boy and the more likely they are to get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted disease. Educating kids on the tools that are available to prevent harm to themselves should be seen as empowerment, not enabling. If a parent is satisfied with the information that they have taught their children while raising them and instilled the morals and beliefs that your family has then the only other thing a parent can do is educate their child about the dangers and hope they make the right decisions in life. If a parent asks you to approach the topic of birth control with her teenage daughter or son, how will you address the topic or what methods will you use in your teaching plan? The teaching methods that I would use in my teaching plan include observation, demonstration and education. “Some girls do not know about the type of contraceptives available, are afraid to go to the clinic and ask for them or are in a relationship where their partner refuses to use condoms.” (Teen pregnancy, 2016). Educating the girls on the variety of contraception and well as educating the boys on the importance of protected sex is a valuable way to empower both sexes to take control of the situation and their life. I would first encourage abstinence, but would make sure that they are empowered with the knowledge of prevention if they choose to make an alternate decision. After the education talk I would show them how to use condoms, how to take birth control pills and other forms of contraception that are on the market. Videos and hand on visual examples often make the experience memorable and the hands on visual also gives the teen the chance to return the demonstration to ensure that they understand how the application of a condom is performed. Teen pregnancy shocker. (2016, Dec 02). The New Age Retrieved from http://prx-herzing.lirn.net/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.prx-herzing.lirn.net/docview/1845259576?accountid=167104 Weiss, J. A. (2012). Who will listen? rural teen pregnancy reflections. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 8(10), 804-809. doi:http://dx.doi.org.prx-herzing.lirn.net/10.1016/j.nurpra.2012.02.028 Student two It is true that teenage pregnancy is present in the community; there are methods in place that need to help educate our teens in order to prevent pregnancy. It has been shown that teenage pregnancy birth rates have declined in the United States. The rates of babies being born to mothers ages 15 decreased from 17.9 to 5.9 per 1000 girls. For girls age 16 the rate decreased from 36.9 to 12.9 per 1000 girls, and for girls age 17 the rate decreased from 60.6 to 23.7 per 1000 girls. This number is attributed to greater education, more long-term contraceptives, and that teenage girls are having less sex. The community can address these concerns by having teen focus groups on the topic of teenage pregnancy and providing a different school setting that can help teen moms become successful in their education. (Ahren & Bramlett, 2016) It continues to be difficult to really decide what type of education schools should be providing teens when it comes to pregnancy prevention. The type of education provided in the school is dependent on the state in which they reside. There are several states in the US that only allow for abstinence only sex education, it is in these states that teenage pregnancy is higher. The states that allow for abstinence teaching in addition to the use of condoms and contraception had the lowest number of teenage pregnancy rates. (Stanger-Hall & Hall, 2011) If asked by a parent how to address their child in the topic of birth control I would first applaud t hem that their child has chosen to come to them in the first place. The teenage years are a difficult time and I think that any parent that is trusted enough by their teen child that they feel safe coming to them in the first place needs to be applauded. I would start by telling the parent not to get angry, this will only make the teen lose trust in their parent, thank the teen for coming to them to prevent pregnancy. The teen also needs to know they made the right choice in seeking help for prevention. Overall, inform the teen of your families belief system, if you feel abstinence is the best answer make sure they know that. But if they decide to move forward in having sex, inform them of the risks that come with that choice. If for some reason the parent is not comfortable discussing contraception then it is time to enlist the help of medical personnel that can help through this time. It needs to be assumed that teenagers do not know anything about contraception, so start at the beginning and it is ok to still incorporate abstinence into the instruction. It is also important for teens to know that this is lifelong health, not just contraception they need to know how to take care of themselves for the rest of their lives. References: Stanger-Hall, K., & Hall, D. W. (2011). Abstinence-only education and teen pregnancy rates: Why we need comprehensive sex education in the U.S. PLoS One, 6(10) Ahern, N. R., & Bramlett, T. (2016). An update on teen pregnancy. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 54(2), 25-28. Huberman, B. (n.d.). Parents and Teens Talking Together about Contraception. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/ Student There have been numerous studies done on teenage pregnancy. The least studied population is the teenage father. Quantitative and qualitative studies have been done. In a report by Solomon-Fears an estimated 614,400 births in the U.S. were by teenagers (ages 15-19). Also stated in that report was the fact that in 2014 approximately 6.3% of all births were to teens and 13.9% of those were not married. I found this to be a good report in the Congressional research service that was completed by Solomon-Fears (2016) – “According to a 2010 report: Teen childbearing is associated with adverse health and social outcomes for teen mothers and their children, although these outcomes often reflect preexisting social deficits. Compared with women who delay childbearing until their 20s, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school and have low educational attainment; to face unemployment, poverty, and welfare dependency; to experience more rapid repeat pregnancy; to become single mothers; and to experience divorce, if they marry. Infants of teen mothers are more likely to be premature and experience infant mortality. The children of teenage mothers do less well on indicators of health and social wellbeing than do children of older mothers”. Sex education should be continued in the school system as that is the only place where some children/teenagers are going to get any form of education on the topic. As most teen pregnancy is in lower economic areas, there is not enough communication among families to avoid pregnancy. While it is still the choice of students and parent it gives an option. In my kids school system they have health class of course where they talk about sex and show the birth movies but they also have a in school forum that is optional – parents have to sign the child out- that given them more information. This at least gives parents a way to start the conversation with their child. In regards to talking to a teenager about birth control, one of the first questions would be to see how that teenage feels on the topic of sex. Some teenagers are nervous about talking about sex. Then question to see if they have had sex yet or just thought about it. Once that is established find out what they are thinking and discusses the options. Pills, condoms, IUDs, shots everyone has a different view of every option and giving the best information will help to make the best choice. Solomon-Fears, C. (2016). Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Statistics and Programs. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from: https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20301.pdf ent three